Apparently a WN 737 had a landing gear malfunction, causing it to skid out on the Oakland runway at about 4pm today PDT. Anyone have details on this, I am stuck in ONT on an indefinitely delayed flight to OAK because of this, but the only information I can find is on a local TV stations site (KTVU, channel 2).

KGO TV in Bay area is reporting that it was flight 3050 (SMF-SAN) and that it landed at OAK and the nose gear collapsed as it did so. No injuries. Aircraft is probably on their long runway (11/29, using 29), which would be closed for awhile. The delays are from having all their air carrier traffic having to use a shorter runway on the east side of the airport (09R/27L, using 27L).

I saw it live -- was out at Oyster Bay Shoreline with my wife, kids, and AltairF28. We weren't really paying too much attention, eating lunch at a bench, when we saw a WN flying by without landing, and figured it was a simple go-around, but weren't really sure why -- no one was holding in position, etc. We watched him do a pretty small pattern and come by and not land again, and at that point pulled out my little hand-held airband radio and poked around until we stumbled onto the WN company frequency. Heard the flight crew talking with MX cntrl and/or dispatch, discussing details of hydraulics, landing gear indicators, etc. He did several laps while they were troubleshooting it, and then came in to land. Main gear hit OK, little puffs of white smoke as any normal landing, but when nose went down it was clear it went too far and there was lots of the white smoke. We were blocked by the terminal building but at least knew there was no big fire, we'd have seen that. There were lots of sirens for the next 30-45 mins. Glad to hear everyone got out OK!

There was a WN 737-700 out holding short of the runway to depart, and he sat there for a very long time, at least 20 mins, after it happened, before eventually taxiing back towards the terminal via the runway. I'm not sure why he stayed out there so long, anyone know?

I'm off on vacation, so this is a general response. When situations like this arise, that is, something that isn't a time-critical emergency (like a fire), the PIC contacts the dispatcher, and they discuss the issue and the options in dealing with it. We also have the comm ability to patch-in maintenance, as needed, to lend their expertise.

Some years ago, one of my SoCal-SMF flights called me up at about the halfway point to advise that he'd just lost his "A" system hydraulics. The aircraft was still flyable using the "B" system, and, of course, would have been out of service on arrival at SMF, where we use contract maintenance and not our own. Getting our own maintenance folks from OAK-SMF would taken awhile, and they might not know exactly what parts to take until they'd looked at the aircraft themselves. I sent the flight to OAK, and had plenty of time to set-up his being towed off the runway (this aircraft had nosewheel steering only from the "A" system). Our local ops had them towed off in a couple of minutes, and the airport never missed a beat, i.e. no holding. There as an aircraft swap was made and the folks went OAK-SMF, arriving about :40 behind their original ETA.

Landing nosegear up isn't "routine" in and of itself, but the method of how these and other situations is routine, i.e. you communicate and don't make unilateral decisions that might not be based on the latest info (like weather at diversion airports, etc. etc.). Dispatchers (at all airlines) are prepared to handle these kinds of situations at any time, just as pilots are, even if they don't do so every day.

Quoting 3201 (Reply 7):There was a WN 737-700 out holding short of the runway to depart, and he sat there for a very long time, at least 20 mins, after it happened, before eventually taxiing back towards the terminal via the runway. I'm not sure why he stayed out there so long, anyone know?

Generally speaking, when there's an emergency on an airport, it doesn't necessarily end once the aircraft comes to a stop on the runway. There are emergency vehicles all over the place, and it takes a few minutes to assess the condition of the aircraft (hot brakes, any fire/smoke etc.). With an airliner fuselage obviously sitting on the runway, an aircraft isn't going to be moved within 15-20 minutes, and ATC probably needed a few minutes for things to settle down as they started working to get airline ops on 27R going. That runway is only 6,200 feet and change long, so there might have been some fuelstops made necessary due to the closure of the longer 29.

That aircraft was to continue on from SAN to TUS-ABQ-MCI. WN has found a replacement aircraft that is currently en-route from SAN-TUS. It will be late, but at least the passengers will get where they need to go.

Quoting OPNLguy (Reply 9):Generally speaking, when there's an emergency on an airport, it doesn't necessarily end once the aircraft comes to a stop on the runway. There are emergency vehicles all over the place, and it takes a few minutes to assess the condition of the aircraft (hot brakes, any fire/smoke etc.). With an airliner fuselage obviously sitting on the runway, an aircraft isn't going to be moved within 15-20 minutes, and ATC probably needed a few minutes for things to settle down as they started working to get airline ops on 27R going.

Makes sense, I'd have thought they'd know certainly one place he didn't need to be was out there at an indefinitely-closed runway, but I guess that's a nice safe out-of-the-way place for him. It seems like one of the biggest problems using 27L, both from watching after the incident and from looking at the charts, is needing 1-way traffic on twy B, either inbound or outbound, between the 27's and the passenger ramp.

Quoting OPNLguy (Reply 9):
That runway is only 6,200 feet and change long, so there might have been some fuelstops made necessary due to the closure of the longer 29.

I didn't realize it was that short. Dunno which flight that was waiting, they certainly could have been unsure of whether they wanted to head straight to 27L or go back to a gate to offload payload and/or fuel if they were too heavy, and it certainly would be convenient for ground/tower to have one less tail to worry about while they sorted everything else out.

Quoting LAXspotter (Reply 11):Is there any restrictions for takeoff on 27L since its only 6200 ft.

Depends upon the overall weight of the aircraft, but short-haul flights should be OK, but longer ones might need to hop over to SJC, SMF, or RNO to take advantage of the longer runways there, until 11/29 re-opens that is.

I wouldn't be surprised if they have it cleared by the start of Monday morning's operation. Get a crane/sling and a flatbed, and tow it off to a maintenace area where it can then be jacked. I've got a video around of an Eastern 727-200 that made a nosegear-up landing at MIA, and that's how it went with that one, and some others I've seen.

Quoting 3201 (Reply 12):It seems like one of the biggest problems using 27L, both from watching after the incident and from looking at the charts, is needing 1-way traffic on twy B, either inbound or outbound, between the 27's and the passenger ramp.

Yeah, I meant 27L. It doesn't make for a terribly efficient operation to use it, but when 11/29 is closed, it's not exactly like one has other alternatives, so you muddle through the best you can until 11/29 re-opens.

Well, we ended delayed only by about an hour in ONT, and had a fun experience landing on the shorter runway, though I suspect there are some less than happy people who are endearing noise from the adjusted approach pattern. As of 7pm, the plane was still out on the runway, and OAK was a mob scence inside, but things seemed to be moving. Don't know where Fed Ex and UPS are going to land their heavies, 6200 is tight for a MD11 or DC10 fully loaded.

My sisters ONT-PHX flight was delayed today because of this. She called me asked why her flight was delayed because of a problem in Oakland. I couldn't tell her as nothing hit the news that i could find but I told her that is probably where her aircraft was coming from and was probably just delayed getting out.

Ah man! I missed my chance to take off from the north field. Was scheduled to fly WN 220 (OAK-SAN) this evening. Canceled my trip up to the Bay Area this weekend however. It's probably for the best. Flight 220 is only delayed 10 minutes as of now. That could still change in the next 30 minutes though.

25 3201
: Definitely NOT fully loaded... but depending on the slope and obstacle situation (neither of which I know), and the temperature, a DC10-30 may be abl

26 B52overSMF
: Hmmm... I'm curious as to what the cause will end up being. I'll have to get in contact with one of my ramper buddies for WN at SMF and see what he he

27 Airbuster
: I find it strange they didn't do an emergency evacuation on the runway, the overwing escape hatches seem not to have been used.....when during your la

28 Skoker
: Southwest claimed that the slides were used..., however, I didn't see any!! Only a lowly ladder.

29 BayAreaBlue
: I was actually en-route to OAK on AS 425 from SNA. We aporached OAK in a different way that told me we were landing on North Field (27L). Upon landing

30 3201
: Flightaware shows it as having departed OAK, does anyone know if that is accurate? This source indicates that a 767-300 with CF680B2C7F engines might

31 727forever
: Would be interesting to see that video. My airline is still flying that airplane to this day. 727forever

32 ONTFlyer
: Aeroman, what flight were you on? I was scheduled for 234 but had to change plans literally as I walked into the terminal. Go figure...According to F

33 Asuflyer05
: The only flag stop I could find was JBU110 OAK-JFK which operated OAK-SLC-JFK. Though JBU476 OAK-BOS hasn't departed yet.